Free Standing Cricket Wicket with Flexible or Detachable Stumps

ABSTRACT

A free standing cricket wicket deployable without penetrating a playing surface is described. In a preferred embodiment, the wicket has three stumps that mimic the behavior of traditional cricket stumps. The stumps are movably joined to a support-mount so that when a ball strikes a stump with sufficient velocity, the stump moves sufficiently to dislodge a bail. A sufficient velocity is one greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game. The mechanism may also be a detachable mechanism, configured so a ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes a stump, the stump separates from the mount. A sufficient velocity for this may be a velocity equal to half the maximum velocity attained in an average game. The mechanisms may include a ball-and-socket element and/or rare-earth magnets.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/660,899 filed by M.Khan on Jun. 18, 2012 entitled “Free standing wicket system to enableplaying cricket on different surfaces”, the contents of which are fullyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a free standing cricket wicket, and moreparticularly to a free standing cricket wicket that may be used on anyreasonably flat surface, and in which the stumps of the wicket flex, orbecome detached from the supporting base, in a manner that may mimic thebehavior of a traditional wicket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The game of Cricket is a traditional British past time, having rootsthat go back as far as King Edward II (1307-1327), although the earliestdefinitive reference to cricket occurs in a 1598 court record mentioningthat “creckett” was played on common ground in Guilford, Surry by schoolboys. The first recorded accounts of adults playing cricket occur in theearly 1600's, with one account being a coroner's court record of thedeath of a cricket player, Jasper Vinall, who was killed while fieldingwhen he was struck on the head by a ball. The verdict was death by“misadventure”.

Cricket is now the primary summer sport in most of the countries thatconstituted the Victorian British Empire, including Australia, NewZealand, India, Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa and the BritishIsles.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game in which a batsman attempts to defend awicket using a bat, against a bowler who “bowls” a ball towards thewicket. The wicket shape, size and its behavior when struck by a ballare of great significance to the game. Since its formation in 1787, theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has been recognized as the sole authorityfor drawing up the governing rules of cricket, known as the Laws ofCricket.

Law 8 of the Laws of Cricket and Appendix A govern the structure andnature of the wicket, and Law 28 governs the circumstances under whichthe wicket is said to be “down”, and the defending batsman, therefore,declared “out”, ending their “innings”. The currently applicable editionof the relevant laws are attached as Appendixes I, II and III, and areall hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

These laws state, amongst other matters, that a wicket 100 consists ofthree wooden stumps 105 with bails 120 on top, as shown in FIG. 1, andthat a traditional cricket wicket 100 is 9 inches (22.86 cm) wide. Eachstump is 28 inches (71.1 cm) high.

The wooden stump 105 in a traditional cricket wicket 100 typically has aspike 125, of unregulated dimensions, rigidly attached to the base ofthe stump. A traditional cricket wicket 100 may set up by hammering thestump so that the spike penetrates the playing surface, and maintainsthe stump in an upright position until the stump is struck sideways by asufficient force, in which case it may lean over or be dislodged fromthe playing surface.

When three stumps are in an upright position, a pair of bails may bebalanced on top of the stumps, each bail straddling one pair of stumps.The bails rest in shallow grooves on the top of the stumps. A batsman'swicket is said to be down when one of the bails is completely removedfrom the top of the stumps.

Cricket is traditionally played on a grass covered playing field, asurface on which it may be easy to setup the wicket by hammering theend-spike into the ground. Grass playing fields are, however, expensiveand time consuming to maintain, especially in more arid countries suchas India, Pakistan and Australia, where cricket is popular but which donot enjoy the frequent rain found in England. Non-professional cricketin these and other countries, is, therefore, often played on very hardsurfaces, including concrete surfaces. It would also be desirable toplay cricket on synthetic surfaces of the type commonly used for tennisor track-and-field. Spiking a stump into such surfaces is not feasibleso the wickets used in these informal cricket games tend to be solidobstacles, having the right dimensions but lacking the ability to behavelike a traditional wicket of stumps and bails.

In addition to regulation cricket, the game is also played by childrenand adults in informal situations in which the rules and the equipmentused may differ from those of regulation cricket. There are countlessvariations of informal cricket, such as, but not limited to, indoorcricket, street cricket, backyard cricket and modified cricket such ascontinuous cricket.

Indoor cricket is played in an indoor “court” that contains a cricketpitch of standard dimensions, covered with artificial turf. A regulationcricket bat and a modified regulation cricket ball are typically used.The modified ball may have a leather cover but a softer filing and istypically colored yellow for greater visibility. Indoor cricket may beplayed in organized amateur competitions or as a casual sport amongstgroups of friends. The organized indoor cricket competitions aretypically governed by the rules promulgated by the World Indoor CricketFederation. These stipulate, for instance, that the stumps should be“Wilkins” style collapsible stumps and that the bails must be wooden orplastic and must be tied to the stumps. Wilkins style stumps are springloaded stumps. Outside of organized tournaments, however, the equipmentused may be at the discretion of the players.

Street cricket is a form of cricket played informally, generally bychildren, in which a street (or school playground, or park) forms thepitch and the playing area. The game is typically played with a tennisball instead of a cricket ball, though older children or adults may playwith a tennis ball covered in plastic tape, to make it harder, or evenhalf-covered with tape, allowing the ball to “swing”, i.e., movesideways in the air. Bats used may range from regulation bats to handfashioned planks of wood. Although boxes and crates are oftensubstituted for the stumps, most children like to make their streetcricket as authentic looking as possible and often use plastic stumpssuch as the stumps used in Kwik Cricket.

Backyard cricket is an even more informal form of cricket, usuallyplayed by adults during the early stages of a barbecue when the fire isjust warming up. The equipment used is similar to that used in streetcricket.

The present invention provides a wicket that may be deployed on any flatsurface, regardless of whether a spike can easily penetrate thatsurface, but which has flexible or detachable stumps that behave liketraditional stumps when struck by a ball, and may also be self-righting.These flexible or detachable stumps may be used with bails that may falloff when the stumps are struck by a ball, mimicking the behavior of atraditional cricket wicket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The relevant prior art includes:

-   -   South African Patent ZA 1999/04605 published on Mar. 29, 2000        by W. Wright and J. Hutton entitled “Wickets for Cricket” that        describes a cricket-wicket set which having a base and three        wickets with two bails. The base has “V” shape formations on its        forward edge facing the bowler during play. Each “V” has a        spring clip in it which elastically retains the stump upright        and the “V” formations set the stumps in a straight row at the        regulation spacing. The bails are put on top conventionally. The        stump can be knocked out, or over, individually or the bails        disturbed in closely similar ways to traditional wickets. South        African Patent ZA 2001/08107 published on Jun. 26, 2003 by P. R.        Peterson entitled “Cricket Wicket Assembly and Portable Playing        Surface” that describes a wicket assembly which includes a base        portion having three connecting formations and three stumps        configured to weakly engage the connecting formations so that        when the stumps are struck by a cricket ball (not shown) during        a game of cricket, the stumps fall over and disengage from the        base portion. The invention furthermore includes a playing        surface (not shown) for a game of cricket, the surface being        capable of receiving at least one wicket assembly.    -   South African Patent ZA 2001/07759 published on Apr. 30, 2003        by S. J. Naude entitled “Cricket Wicket Assembly” that describes        a cricket wicket assembly having three elongate stumps, a        separate support for holding the stumps in an upright position        relative to a cricket playing surface, and a means such as        magnets for releasably securing the stumps to the support.

Various implements are known in the art, but fail to address all of theproblems solved by the invention described herein. Various embodimentsof this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and willbe described in more detail herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a free standing cricket wicket that maybe deployed without needing to penetrate the playing surface. The stumpsmay be flexible, self-righting, detachable, or some combination thereof.The free standing wicket stumps may, therefore, mimic the behavior of atraditional cricket stump by, when struck by a ball, being knocked askewor completely dislodged from the support base. The stumps of thisinvention may, therefore, allow the dislodging of bails supported on thestumps to determine when a wicket is down, as in traditional cricket.

In a preferred embodiment, the free standing cricket wicket may includethree flexible stumps, a support mount, a flexible mechanism connectingthe stumps to the support mount, and a pair of bails. The stumps arepreferably uniformly cylindrical and at least 5 times as tall as theirdiameter. The support mount may include one or more lower supportelements and preferably has a width, length, shape and weight sufficientto support the stumps in a vertical orientation when the wicket isplaced with its lower support elements resting on a substantiallyhorizontal playing surface.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible mechanism may be constructed sothat when a game ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes astump, the stump flexes sufficiently to dislodge a bail. The stump mayalso then return to an upright position. A sufficient velocity for thispurpose may, for instance, be a velocity greater than 10% of the maximumvelocity typically achieved in a game being played with the game ball.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexiblemechanism may be constructed as a detachable mechanism and configuredsuch that when a game ball travelling with sufficient velocity strikes astump, the stump separates from the supporting mount. A sufficientvelocity for this purpose may, for instance, be defined as equal to halfthe maximum velocity attained in an average game played using thatparticular ball.

The detachability of the stump may be further quantified by requiringthat the ball detaching the stump must strike the stump from anyincident angle 305 within +/−45 degrees of a theoretical horizontalplane bisecting the height of the stump.

The flexible or detachable mechanisms may, for instance, include one ormore magnets, such as, but not limited to, a powerful rare-earth magnet.The mechanisms may also include one or more magnet pole-pieces.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexible ordetachable mechanisms may include a ball-and-socket element. This mayalso include magnets or may also, or instead, include spring leafelements shaped to provide temporary capture of a ball element by acorresponding socket element.

Other temporary binding elements include, but are not limited to, ahook-and-loop type temporary binder.

Therefore, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following,and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cricket wicketthat may be used on any playing surface.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cricketwicket that may be deployed without having to penetrate a playingsurface.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wicket havingstumps that mimics the performance of stumps in a traditional cricketwicket.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a wicket thatmay be used with balls other than a traditional cricket ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A shows a perspective view of a traditional cricket wicket.

FIG. 1 B shows a front view of a traditional cricket wicket.

FIG. 2 A shows a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of afree standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 B shows a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of afree standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 A shows a front-top perspective view of a preferred embodiment ofa flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 B shows a front-top perspective view of a flexible or detachablewicket of the present invention having been struck by an object.

FIG. 3 C shows a front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible ordetachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 D shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible ordetachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 E shows an exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of aflexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 F shows an exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of aflexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 G shows a close-up exploded front view of a preferred embodimentof a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 H shows a close-up exploded side view of a preferred embodimentof a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a close up rear perspective view of a lower portion of afree standing cricket wicket having flexible or detachable stumps.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic, perspective view of a setup for defining adetachability of a free standing cricket wicket stump.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a freestanding cricket wicket having a ball and socket type flexible ordetachable connection between a supporting mount and a flexible ordetachable stump.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a freestanding cricket wicket having a further embodiment of a ball and sockettype flexible or detachable connection between a supporting mount and aflexible or detachable stump.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the variousfigures are identified with the same reference numerals.

Various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail.Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the presentinvention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, thoseof ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the presentspecification and viewing the present drawings that variousmodifications and variations can be made thereto.

FIG. 1 A shows a perspective view of a traditional cricket wicket 100.The traditional cricket wicket 100 may be made up of three wooden stumps105 that may be hammered, or otherwise inserted, so that a spike 125,located at the bottom of the stumps 105, penetrates into the ground. Inthis way, the stumps may be held upright and positioned to support twowooden cricket bails 120. The bails 120 typically rest on a groove 135located at the top of the stump 105. When one or more of the stumps arehit sufficiently hard by a cricket ball, they move or flex and one orboth of the bails may be dislodged. A batsman whose bails are dislodgedmay be declared “out”, ending his inning, i.e., his turn at bat.

FIG. 1 B shows a front view of a traditional cricket wicket 100. Certainof the dimensions and materials of manufacture of a traditional cricketwicket 100 are specified by the Laws of Cricket, the relevant ones ofwhich are appended hereto and are incorporated by reference in thisapplication. As discussed previously, a law compliant stump must have aheight 110 above the playing surface that is 28 inches (71 cm) and mustbe made of wood. The distance 130 that the bails project above the topof the stump is limited to a maximum of 0.5 inches (1.3 cm). When thethree stumps are set up as a wicket, they must be equally spaced, with atotal width 115 of 9 inches (23 cm). The spikes 125 of the stumps aretypically conical, but their dimensions are not specified by law.

FIG. 2 A shows a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of afree standing cricket wicket 200 of the present invention that may haveflexible or detachable stumps.

The free standing cricket wicket 200 may have a supporting mount 235 andthree stumps 230 that may be flexibly, or detachably, connected to thesupporting mount 235 by a flexible mechanism 245 near the lower end 250of the flexible stump. The supporting mount 235 may be sufficientlyrigid and heavy to remain substantially stationary when the stumps aredisturbed. The mount 235 may, for instance, have a weighted portion 265to help ensure this. The free standing cricket wicket 200 may also havetwo bails 120 that may rest on top of the equally spaced stumps.

When a game ball 225, travelling with sufficient velocity 255, strikes astump, that stump may move, or become detached, as shown by moved stump230. When this occurs, the bails may be dislodged which may be used as asignal to declare the current batsman “out”.

Stumps are typically identified by their position relative to a batsmanabout to strike a ball. In FIG. 2, for instance, if a right-handedbatsman were batting, stump 215 may be deemed to be the “off” stump andstump 220 the “leg” stump. The nomenclature would be reversed for aleft-handed batsman. Stump 210 would be the “middle” stump for eitherbatsman.

FIG. 2 B shows a front-bottom perspective view of a preferred embodimentof a free standing cricket wicket 200 having flexible or detachablestumps of the present invention. The height 260 of the flexible ordetachable stump on its support, i.e., the distance from the bottom of alower support element 240 to the top of a stump may be the same as intraditional cricket, i.e., 28 inches. The three stumps, the flexible anddetachable “middle” stump 210, “off” stump 215 and “leg” stump 220, mayall be equal in length, equally spaced and dimensioned such that a gameball may not pass between any of the stumps without skewing the stumpand dislodging one or more of the bails.

FIG. 3 A shows a front-top perspective view of a preferred embodiment ofa flexible or detachable wicket 351 of the present invention.

The flexible or detachable wicket 351 may include three flexible stumps349 mounted vertically on a base-plate 380. The flexible stumps 349 maybe equally spaced so as to support two informal-cricket bails 350.

FIG. 3 B shows a front-top perspective view of a flexible or detachablewicket 351 of the present invention shortly after having been struck byan object. The flexing stumps 353 may have been struck by the object andknocked askew. Because of this the dislodged bails 346 may have left thestumps and are falling to the ground. The flexible stump 349 may nothave been impacted by the object, and may be left standing undisturbed.

In one preferred embodiment, the flexing stumps 353 may be self-rightingand may return to their original position after been knocked askew.

FIG. 3 C shows a front view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible ordetachable wicket 351 of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible or detachable wicket 351 mayinclude three flexible stumps 349 flexible or detachably joined, attheir lower end, to a base-plate 380 by one or more flexing mechanisms382. The stumps may be called flexible not because they themselves areflexible but to draw attention to the fact that when joined to base bythe flexing mechanism 382, they may be flexed relative to the base-plate380, i.e., they may be temporarily skewed with respect to the baseplatewhen struck by an object with sufficient force. When undisturbed, thethree flexible stumps 349 may be held vertical and stationary. In thisundisturbed configuration, the flexible stumps 349 may support one ormore bails 350, which may be informal-cricket bails made ofnon-regulation materials such as, but not limited to, plastics, metalalloys, or some combination thereof. The informal-cricket bails 350 mayalso be of non-regulation dimensions.

The base-plate 380 may have one or more base feet 385. In a preferredembodiment, the base-plate 380 may have three base feet 385 so as to sitstationary on a slightly undulating surface.

FIG. 3 D shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of a flexible ordetachable wicket 351 of the present invention. As before, theinformal-cricket bails 350 may balance on the top-end of the flexiblestumps 349. The flexible stump 349 may, in turn, be supported by aflexing mechanism 382 that may flexibly or detachably join them to thebase-plate 380. The three base feet 385 may be arranged in at thevertices of an imaginary triangle, as may be inferred from FIGS. 3 C and3 D.

FIG. 3 E shows an exploded front view of a preferred embodiment of aflexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

As seem in FIG. 3, the three flexible stumps 349 may be hollow stumps360. The hollow stump 360 may, for instance, be hollow, cylindricaltubing made from a material such as, but not limited to, a plastic suchas, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene(PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC),low-density polyethylene (LDPE) polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS),high impact polystyrene, polyamides (PA) (Nylons), acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polycarbonate/acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene blend (PC/ABS), polyurethanes (PU), or somecombination and/or blend thereof. The hollow stump 360 may also, forinstance, be hollow tubing made from a material such as, but not limitedto, a metal or metal ally such as, but not limited to, stainless steel,steel, aluminum, iron, copper, bronze, brass, magnesium, magnelium,titanium, zinc or some combination thereof. The hollow stump 360 mayalso, for instance, be hollow tubing made from a material such as, butnot limited to, a composite material such as, but not limited to, fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar, fiber reinforced plastics, or somecombination thereof.

The stump caps 355 may be made to be a push fit to the hollow stump 360or may be dimensioned to be glued, welded or otherwise bonded, into thehollow, cylindrical tubes making up the bulk of the stump.

The informal-cricket bails 350 may be dimensioned to balance on top ofthe stump caps 355, and span adjacent stumps.

Both the stump caps 355 and the informal-cricket bails 350 may be madeof one or more of the materials itemized above in reference to hollowstumps 360.

At the bottom of the hollow stump 360 there may be a magnet-holdingstump-base 365. This may be machined or molded from any suitablenon-magnetic material such as, but not limited to, a plastic, aluminum,copper, or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the magnet may, for instance, be a rare-earthpermanent magnet such as, but not limited to, a neodymium magnet thatmay be made from a suitable alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron or asamarium-cobalt magnet that may be made of an alloy of samarium andcobalt. Rare earth magnets may be compact yet extremely powerful and aretherefore well suited to use in this application.

The magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be dimensioned to be a push fit tothe hollow stump 360 or to be inserted into the stump and held in placeby suitable glue, the composition of which may depend on the materialschosen for the stump-base and the hollow stump, or by welding or somecombination thereof.

The bottom of the magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be suitably shapedto rest on top of a stump holding metal post 370. The stump holdingmetal post 370 may be made of a suitably magnetic Ferro-metal such as,but not limited to, iron, cobalt, nickel or some suitable alloy orcombination thereof.

The stump holding metal post 370 may be fixedly attached to thebase-plate cover 375 by some fastening technique such as, but notlimited to, gluing, welding, bolting, screwing or some combinationthereof.

The base-plate cover 375 may be made of a suitably rigid and durablematerial such as, but not limited to, plastic, stainless steel, wood,aluminum or some combination thereof.

The base-plate cover 375 may have a suitable protective coating, or maybe covered by a base-plate cover 375 to protect it from the elements andwear and tear.

One or more base feet 385 may be fixedly attached to the underside ofthe base-plate 380. These base feet 385 may, for instance, be molded ormachined from any suitable plastic such as, but not limited to,polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), high-densitypolyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene(LDPE) polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), high impact polystyrene,polyamides (PA) (Nylons), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS),polycarbonate (PC), polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blend(PC/ABS), polyurethanes (PU), or some combination and/or blend thereof.

FIG. 3 F shows an exploded side view of a preferred embodiment of aflexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

From the combination of FIGS. 3 E and 3 F, the preferred cylindricalshape of the stump caps 355, the hollow stump 360, the magnet-holdingstump-base 365, the stump holding metal post 370 and the base feet 385may be inferred. Similarly, the preferred planar or sheet shape of thebase-plate 380 and any base-plate cover 375 may also be inferred fromthe combination of FIGS. 3 E and 3 F.

FIG. 3 G shows a close-up exploded front view of a preferred embodimentof a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

The informal-cricket bails 350 may be a single piece having an outerbail-support 352 and an inner bail-support 354 rigidly and fixedlyjoined by a bail bridging element 348. As shown in FIG. 3 G, the outerbail-support 352 may rest on top of the stump caps 355 that is fitted tothe top-end 362 of an outer hollow-stump, i.e., on top of a “leg” or an“off” stump.

FIG. 3 G also shows how the magnet-holding stump-base 365 may be sizedto fit into the bottom-end of hollow-stump 364, but may also have a lip369 that may stop the stump-base from completely entering thehollow-stump.

The stump-base 365 may also have a concave lower surface 367. Theconcave surface may be shaped to be a complementary match to therounded-top 374 of the stump-holding post 370. These concave surfacesmay allow the stump to pivot round a center point of these concavesurfaces when stuck by an object, yet remain attached by the attractiveforce between the embedded magnet 366 in the insert 368 of the stumpbase and the stump holding metal post 370.

These concave surfaces may for instance both be shaped as complementarysurfaces of a truncated elliptical paraboloid. Such a shape of thesurfaces may help facilitate the self-righting of the stump, as theembedded magnet 366 will be closest to, and therefore in the lowestenergy state, i.e., most attracted to, the base of stump-holding post372 when the stump is vertically upright if one or both of the surfacesis a truncated elliptical paraboloid, or a close approximation thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3 G, the base feet 385 that are attached to the baseplate 380 may have an underside 386 made of a suitable gripping ornon-slip material such as, but not limited to, a suitably embossed orpatterned rubber or plastic. Such a lower surface may, for instance,better hold the wicket stationary on a playing surface.

FIG. 3 H shows a close-up exploded side view of a preferred embodimentof a flexible or detachable wicket of the present invention.

As seen in FIG. 3 H, the stump cap 355 may have a lip 356 that may bepositioned adjacent to the top rim of the top-end of hollow-stump 362when the stump-cap insert 358 is pushed into the hollow stump. This mayensure that when the bail support rests on the bail holding groove 390that the informal-cricket bails 350 may be positioned at the correctheight, i.e., the height specified by the laws or rules pertaining tothe game being played using the flexible or detachable wicket 351.

FIG. 4 shows a close up rear perspective view of a lower portion of afree standing cricket wicket in a further preferred embodiment of theinvention.

In this further preferred embodiment of the invention, the connectingelement 270 is located partly in the base 285 of the stump and partly inthe lower support element 240.

In the base of the stump there may, for instance, be a magnet 275 and inthe lower support element 240, there may be a magnet pole piece 280. Inthis way the movable stump 205 may be maintained vertically and locatedabove a specific position on the upper portion 290 of the supportingmount. When struck by an object, such as the game ball traveling at asufficient velocity, the movable stump 205 may move sufficiently todislodge a bail balanced on top of the stump, or the stump may becompletely separated from the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount.

The force required to move the stump sufficiently to dislodge the bailmay, for instance, be the force exerted by a game ball travelling at avelocity that is greater than 10% of the maximum velocity typicallyachieved in a game being played with said game ball.

The strength of the detachable connection between the bottom of thestump and the upper portion 290 of the supporting mount may becontrolled by factors such as, but not limited to, the type and size ofmagnet used, the distance the magnet may be embedded above the bottom ofthe stump, the type of material that may be used for the magnet polepiece 280, and the distance that pole piece may be embedded below theupper portion 290 of the supporting mount.

One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate that theposition of the magnet and pole piece may be reversed, and that anothermagnet may be used instead of the preferably ferro-magnetic pole piece.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic, perspective view of a setup, or framework, fordefining a detachability of a free standing cricket wicket stump.

In the framework of FIG. 5, the force to move the stump sufficiently maybe defined as the force exerted by a game ball 225 travelling at apredefined velocity 255 and striking the movable stump 205 at the pointat which a theoretical horizontal plane 310 bisects the height of thestump, when the ball approaches the stump from any direction that isoutside the theoretical cone generated by a line that passes through avertical axis 311 of the stump at a point bisecting the stump, andoriented at an incident angle 305 to the theoretical horizontal plane310 bisecting the height of the stump.

For instance, the sufficient velocity may be a velocity such as, but notlimited to, a velocity equal to half the maximum velocity attained in anaverage game played using the game ball and the free standing cricketwicket.

The required minimum force may, for instance, be defined as a force suchas, but not limited to, a force exerted by a ball travelling at asufficient velocity that strikes the stump from any incident angle 305within +/−45 degrees of the theoretical horizontal plane 310 bisectingthe height of the stump, the incident angles being within a spacedefined as being excluded by a theoretical cone 315.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a freestanding cricket wicket having a ball and socket type flexible ordetachable connection between a supporting mount and a flexible ordetachable stump. The lower support element 240 is resting on theplaying field 330.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the connectingelement 270 may include a ball element 320 that may be rigidly connectedto a lower end 250 of the movable or detachable stump, and a socketelement 325, shaped to be complementary to the lower surface of the ballelement 320, and rigidly attached to the upper portion 290 of thesupporting mount 235.

The connecting element 270 may further include a magnet pole piece 280that may be embedded in the ball element 320 and a magnet 275 that maybe embedded in the supporting mount 235, beneath the socket element 325.

With a sufficiently strong magnet such an arrangement may beself-righting so long as the wicket is not dislodged completely.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic front view of a lower portion of a freestanding cricket wicket having a further embodiment of a ball and sockettype flexible or detachable connection 270 between a supporting mount235 and a flexible or detachable stump 250.

In such an embodiment, the connecting element 270 may have a ballelement 320 that may be fixedly mounted to the lower end of a detachablestump. The connecting element 270 may also include a socket element 325that may have one or more spring leaf elements 335.

The ball element 320 may have an outer surface that may be a portion ofa sphere and dimensioned to be complementary to the inner surface of thesocket element 325. The socket element 325 may be made from a suitablematerial, and have suitable dimensions, including thickness, so that thespring leaf elements 335 allow the stump to move enough to dislodge oneor more of a set of bails balanced on top of the stumps when the stumpis struck by a sufficient force.

A sufficient force may, for instance, be the force exerted by a gameball travelling at a velocity that is greater than 10% of the maximumvelocity typically achieved in a game being played with said game ball.

The connecting element 270 may also make use of other temporary bondingmechanisms. The ball element 320 may for instance have an uppertemporary bonding surface 340 fixed to its lower surface, and the socketelement 325 may have a lower temporary bonding surface 345 attached toits inner surface. The upper and lower temporary bonding surfaces may beplaced so as to be opposite each other when the stump is positionedvertically. The temporary bonding surfaces may, for instance, be partsof a hook and loop fastener, of the sort commonly referred to asVELCRO™.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed:
 1. A free-standing cricket wicket, deployable in anupright orientation without penetrating a playing surface upon which itis deployed, comprising: at least one flexible stump, said flexiblestump being uniformly cylindrical and having a height that is at least 5times its diameter; a supporting mount; a flexible mechanism flexiblyjoining a lower end of said flexible stump to an upper portion of saidsupporting mount; and wherein said supporting mount comprises at leastone lower support element, and wherein said supporting mount has awidth, length, shape and weight sufficient to support said stump in avertical orientation when said supporting mount is placed such that saidlower support elements rest on a substantially horizontal playingsurface.
 2. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 1 wherein saidflexible mechanism is self-righting.
 3. The free standing cricket wicketof claim 2 wherein said self-righting flexible mechanism comprises: arare-earth magnet embedded within a stump-base in proximity to a concavelower surface of said stump-base; and a stump-holding Ferro-metal posthaving a convex shaped rounded-top shaped to substantially be acomplementary fit to said concave lower surface of said stump-base. 4.The free standing cricket wicket of claim 3 wherein said rare-earthmagnet is of a strength such that when one of said flexible stumps isstruck by a game ball travelling at a velocity that is greater than 10%of the maximum velocity typically achieved in a game being played withsaid game ball, said struck flexible stump moves sufficiently todislodge a bail resting on a bail holding groove located in a vicinityof a top end of said flexible stump.
 5. The free standing cricket wicketof claim 3 wherein said concave lower surface of said stump-base andsaid convex shaped rounded top of said stump-base are both truncatedelliptical paraboloids.
 6. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 1wherein said flexible mechanism is configured to be a detachablemechanism such that when said vertically supported stump is struck by agame ball travelling at a sufficient velocity, said struck flexiblestump detaches from said supporting mount.
 7. The free standing cricketwicket of claim 6 wherein said sufficient velocity is a velocity equalto half the maximum velocity attained in an average game played usingsaid game ball and said free standing cricket wicket.
 8. The freestanding cricket wicket of claim 7 wherein said game ball strikes saidstump from any incident angle 305 within +/−45 degrees of a theoreticalhorizontal plane bisecting the height of the stump, said incident anglesbeing within a space defined as being excluded by a theoretical cone. 9.The free standing cricket wicket of claim 6, wherein said detachablemechanism comprises at least one magnet and one magnet pole piece. 10.The free standing cricket wicket of claim 6 wherein said detachablemechanism further comprises a ball element and a socket element, andwherein said connecting element is fixedly connected to said lower endof said detachable stump, and said ball element is fixedly connected tosaid upper portion of the supporting mount, and wherein said ballelement and said socket element are detachably connected to each other.11. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 10 further comprising arare-earth magnet fixedly attached to said socket element or to saidsupporting mount and a magnet pole piece fixedly attached to said ballelement.
 12. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 10 wherein saidsocket element further comprises at least one spring leaf element shapedto provide temporary capture to said ball element.
 13. The free standingcricket wicket of claim 10 further comprising an upper temporary bondingsurface and a lower temporary bonding surface, said upper temporarybonding surface being fixedly attached to said ball element and saidlower temporary bonding surface being rigidly attached to said socketelement.
 14. The free standing cricket wicket of claim 13 wherein saidupper temporary bonding surface and said lower temporary bonding surfacecomprise complementary elements of a hook-and-loop type temporarybinder.